


pieces existing on

by Voidromeda



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Creepy Fluff, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 04:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18865522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voidromeda/pseuds/Voidromeda
Summary: Far after the invasion has been dealt with, Shiro becomes Keith's [un]official barber and develops a brand new anxiety because of it.





	pieces existing on

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by _Hair Lockets_ by Nicole Dollanganger.

Keith hates his hair.

It isn’t something he expects Keith to tell him out of the blue, when all of this is over; he doesn’t expect Keith to come back from a mission, hair long and in a beautiful braid, wearing his Blade of Marmora uniform instead of the Garrison usual, and for him to say, “I hate how long my hair has gotten.”

The first time that Shiro hears that he stumbles; there aren’t a lot of barbershops around any more thanks to the Galran invasion and Keith doesn’t really trust the remaining barbers with his hair, so they have to improvise. Shiro cuts Keith’s hair with his awakened blade after he shoves it into his hands, and it becomes a choppy, uneven mess. Yet, Keith seems happier about it.

He smiles at himself in the mirror, then looks back at Shiro with that very same, happy smile and pushes himself away to go to sleep. His hair is left as a mess on the floor that he promises to clean up after he has taken a shower and when he is changing out for his civvies, but Shiro reassures him that he will clean the mess up himself. Most of the strands of his hair go into the trash, but there is an impulsive part of Shiro – a part of him that he doesn’t want to think about, the part that reminds him about Keith’s Galran half and reminds him that he will be outlived – that makes him grab onto a few strands.

Shame burns at his guts, even as he is rushing off to hide Keith’s hair away in a tiny box that he knows the other will never touch, and he has to go through his breathing exercises just so that he can smile at Keith naturally and not seem like he has a crime to hide away.

Keeping strands of your lover’s hair isn’t… isn’t illegal. But he doesn’t want the concerned interrogation that will surely follow if his fake smile is found out, and Keith always knows when Shiro is lying. It has always been a point of comfort, before this. Before what he has done. Shiro doesn’t want to think about it.

[That night, Keith doesn’t have to tie his hair back when making love to Shiro, and his gut twists.]

 

 

After that, Shiro becomes Keith’s [un]official barber. Getting a scissor to cut his hair is easier than he expects, and he is able to practice on some wigs that Matt just happens to have lying around (“look, they were for cosplay, and I don’t cosplay anymore!”) until he is able to keep Keith from looking like a mess.

His hair grows faster than normal humans, his frustration always rising whenever Keith realizes that a haircut two weeks ago is now rendered useless thanks to the fact that his hair is back to being past-shoulder length.

“Why do you hate your hair being so long?” is what Shiro asks one day, instead of reassuring Keith that he doesn’t mind cutting his hair [and stealing away pieces of his hair from the floor]. He has to stomp down the feeling of horror at himself for being so blunt and careless, but Keith just shakes his head and laughs.

He runs his hand through his hair – long and wild, as untameable as Keith himself – and Shiro can’t force his eyes away from how his strands slip in-between long, thin fingers. “I can’t control it,” Keith says softly, and that snaps his attention back onto his husband, “and… it annoys me, I guess? I like being in control. And this part – I can’t control, it’ll always grow, so whenever it’s short… it makes me feel happier, better. I’m in control of my own body, and that’s just another part of it.”

Shiro doesn’t say anything more than that. He just sits Keith in-front of their new vanity table, clears the ground out, wraps a makeshift barber’s gown around his neck, and gets to cutting his husband’s wet hair. He watches as long strands fall, one by one, down onto the floor, as his hair gets shorter and shorter until it is chin-length, and Shiro feels his heart constrict.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says breathlessly. Keith hums questioningly. “You’re always so beautiful. It’s actually amazing how beautiful you are.”

Keith snorts. “Hey, don’t start waxing poetic again. Haircut first, waxing later. Then I can pretend to listen to you when you’re going on your praise parade.”

“So… a pra-”

“Don’t even.”

They both laugh and Shiro holds still for a moment so he doesn’t accidentally nick Keith, and he gives him a kiss on the top of his head before he resumes the haircut. He has gotten so used to this now, the motion fluid and relaxing, and his heart is slamming against his ribcage when he is almost done with the haircut.

Keith turns around to look at him when the gown is removed, his eyes shining as bright as the stars from their travels in Voltron, as gorgeous as the Andromeda galaxy so far away, and as warm as the rising sun. His hair falls in a short, pretty swoop near his chin after Shiro dries it with their hairdryer, and the resulting grin on his face is pleased, happy. He leaves Shiro to do the cleaning [with a lot of insisting on his end] and goes to prepare dinner for them.

He collects a few strands of hair as always, then sweeps the other ones and throws them in the trash. His hair constricts tightly in his chest as he puts everything away in their room, tucks the new strands into his memento box, and grabs the shortest strand to hide away in a locket Keith has given him some hours ago as a gift.

 _‘I’m sorry,’_ he thinks as he slips the locket on and heads back to eat dinner, suffocating further after he sees the elated glint in Keith’s gaze when he sees the locket, and he tries not to make himself too obvious. _‘I’m so sorry.’_

[Keith moves to instinctively grab his hair tie, only to stop and chuckle to himself when he remembers he doesn’t need it. Playfully, he ties Shiro’s forelock with it and they both laugh. With his short hair curtaining his face, he makes love to him that night.]

 

 

The locket rests heavy around his neck, settling right next to his heart, while it holds onto his secret; Keith kisses his cheeks today, thumbs the locket, but he doesn’t open it because Shiro has told him that the locket is his personal comfort.

“You can’t just force these things out of people.” Shiro tries to say jokingly, and Keith just nods morosely. “I’ll tell you one day, okay? Promise.” his words ring hollow in his own head, but Keith is thankfully distracted enough by another Blade member as they come to check up on something that he doesn’t comment on it. If Keith has just been paying more attention, he will have noticed it.

Shiro thinks himself unfortunate for it.

They have a conversation in Galran, and Shiro busies himself by reciting a poem Hunk has shown him recently while the two Blade members talk. Keith glances at him apologetically once, but Shiro just shrugs, unbothered. The conversation is done quickly, the member saluting Keith as they are dismissed and they both wave at them before they are looking into each other’s eyes.

“I’m going to be away a few months.” Keith says softly, “I’ll try and contact you often, okay? I’ve already sent you the frequencies we’re going to probably be at, so…”

Shiro cups his cheeks and gives him a small peck. “It’s okay,” he soothes, “I’ll figure it out, and humanity’s advanced. I’ll be able to contact you without it.” Keith kisses him again, his hand ruffling his hair, and when they break out they are smiling at each other.

“I’m going to miss you being my barber.” Keith mourns, and Shiro prays that his tensing up isn’t noticeable. Another kiss, quick and feather-light, then Keith is parting from Shiro, summoning his mask, and then running off to his ship so that he can engage on his mission. He doesn’t know what it is, isn’t authorized to know, but that is fine. He waves at Keith as the ship’s door rises up and hides him away from view, then grips his locket hard.

Pieces of Keith are still with him. The locket constricts around his throat, his grip shaking, and his eyes are wide as he watches the ship lift-off. It takes him some time to be able to breathe again, but he makes it back to his quarters without anyone being too worried and gets back to work, trying to ignore the nausea curling in his belly.

He needs to burn away all the strands. He has to get over himself. He doesn’t need reminders that Keith is alive.

 

Keith is going to be fine.

[That night, Shiro puts Keith’s hair tie in their drawer, shoves his locket in the box, and sleeps, trying not to think about what he has done. Tomorrow, tomorrow he will get rid of his paranoia, and he will have a hair locket no more.]


End file.
